Visualisation and writing

In the previous step, we identified the types of sounds we heard, and analysed their effect on the audience. As you listened to the sound clip, did you begin to see images in your mind’s eye?

This is visualisation and we can train ourselves to expand this skill to develop ideas and creative writing.

First, let’s imagine the scene we ‘saw’ when listening to the soundtrack (you can refer back to the notes you jotted down). Using a blank piece of paper, draw a picture of a scene you imagined when listening to the sound clip.

It may also help to refer back to the 3Cs and 3Ss we examined in Week 1, Step 1.6.

Camera
How is your scene being framed? Can we see something/someone close up, or is the action taking place in long shot?

Characters
Who are the characters within your scene? Is your protagonist alone, or are there people, animals or other characters in the scene?

Colours
What are the predominant colours of your scene? What colours do you see, and why?

Setting
What is your setting? Where is the action taking place - is it inside or outside? Is it somewhere familiar to us, like a classroom or a house, or somewhere we’ve never been such as space or the desert?

Story
What story is starting to emerge? What action is taking place? Is your scene at the beginning, middle or end of a story?

When you have drawn your picture, annotate it with the sounds you heard.

Think about what’s taking place in the scene you have illustrated, and what you think might happen next.